Safetypinlove

This verse is the climax of the very familiar story of the raising of Lazarus from the dead by Jesus. But the story is so much more than God’s divine Voice calling the dead back to life…it’s about waiting on the Lord. Remember, when Jesus first got the distress call from the sisters, it was shortly before Lazarus died…but rather than rushing to their home, He waited two days. And by the time Jesus finally made it there, Mary & Martha had waited days longer. Our Christian life is made up of waiting on the Lord…waiting for Him to heal, waiting for Him to restore, waiting for Him to move. And it’s during that waiting period that others are watching us. Are we waiting in God’s grace, or trying to make things happen under our own power? Are we waiting in peace and calmness of Spirit, or constantly fretful and anxious? Are we waiting in faith that God is in control, or is doubt & fear filling our waking hours? Yes, Jesus made them wait, but in doing so, it gave many friends and neighbors the chance to congregate at Mary & Martha’s home…and make them privy to share in this undeniable miracle and put their faith in Jesus.

Within the Old Testament Book of Zechariah, he addresses both the First and Second Coming of Christ, the Messiah. In these verses he shows a time when Salvation would not be limited to the Jews only, but would extend God’s grace to the world. And with it there would be sanctification through the blood of Christ and the New Covenant, with spiritual restoration and everlasting life extended to all who called on His Name. Zechariah speaks of the day when the Lord will come and take up residence…also known in Revelation 20 as the Millennial Reign/Kingdom. But Paul also speaks of the Lord living among us in another way in II Corinthians 6:16…for when Jesus came, He was Himself the true Temple or dwelling place of God. (Matthew 1:23 & John 2:21) But now the Holy Spirit lives in us, and for this reason we have become the end-time Temple of God…both individually, (I Corinthians 6:19) and corporately as His Church. (I Corinthians 3:16-17 & I Peter 2:5)

How can we repay God? The simple answer is we can’t out bless God. In our gratitude we may want to somehow reciprocate, but as this Passage points out, all God wants from us is to proclaim His greatness to others. This entire Psalm is a deeply personal song of thanksgiving after God had delivered the Psalmist from destruction…and so in gratitude, he declared God’s love, grace, righteousness, and mercy in the presence of God’s people in the Temple.

Any type of act of service is to be done in submission to God and in our love for Him…rather than for personal glory. For our acts of piety performed only for the sake of public recognition are self-seeking & self-serving and don’t show love for God but selfish love for ourselves. We are to be a hidden people doing God’s work quietly and without fanfare… not brightly illuminated saints with a “Look at me!” attitude. That’s because serving others as a follower of God is in it’s self a blessing not a performance for others to watch and approve.

“That’s not my problem.” We saw the beginning of self-isolation during the Pandemic, when fear of the unknown caused us to keep to ourselves, cloistered and secluded in our homes. But now years later, that self-isolation has given way to passive apathy and indifference towards anything outside of our small sphere. Sure, when asked we give a half-hearted attempt at getting involved in the lives of others, but it’s too easy to look the other way and pretend we don’t see injustice, oppression, poverty, and wrong. In this verse we see three divine requirements that cover our relationships with others according to God’s standards…done with a morally right lifestyle that acknowledges Him in every aspect of our walk. Thus, we now have an ethical obligation to emulate & desire justice, love, and mercy… forcing us to break down our self-made walls of isolation & indifference.

Everyday we’re hit by the uncertainties of life…from the elusiveness of wealth in a ever changing economy to our own unpredictable health status. As humans, we like to have all our ducks in a row knowing what each day will bring…but life doesn’t work that way, and the only thing we can be certain of is that fickleness will show up. I was struck by a quote of Oswald Chambers’ about this when he wrote, ” Certianity is the mark of the commonsense life – gracious uncertainty is the mark of the Spiritual life.” So think about this…when we have child-like confidence that God is in control and taking care of us, we don’t need to be in doubt & fear for tomorrow…and we can rest assured that no matter what life may bring, God already has full control over it.

In Psalm 131:1, David expressed his deeply felt confidence in the Lord in a simple, clear, yet profound way…”I don’t concern myself with great matters.” … choosing instead to make his highest priority a close & right relationship with God. In Matthew 6:25-27, Jesus teaches about not seeking out “things” but seeking first God’s Kingdom and all those “things” He would then supply. But the promise found in this passage in Jeremiah in an another translation reads, “I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go.” Which is also echoed in Psalm 68:20, “Our God is a God Who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.” God promises to save us from illness and death through His Son, Jesus’, life, death & resurrection…delivering us from eternal death & destruction to eternal life.

Peter is warning about false teachers that profess to be Christians but still keep a tight hold on their old sinful ways of life…showing that their knowledge of Christ and the Way of righteousness was only superficial. At this time, these false teachers were teaching & advocating that you could have your cake & eat it too…kind of like having one foot in heaven while still having one foot in the world. But in doing so they were flatly denying the Lordship of Christ and leading many astray. The Proverb Peter was quoting here is Proverbs 26:11, which concludes that fools don’t learn from their mistakes….and these false teachers obviously had not learned either that they couldn’t have it both ways.

Jesus hung out with sinners, and this irked the Jewish Religious Leaders to no end. It was their unwritten law that , One must not associate with an ungodly man…and this included a Rabbi even teaching the person. But this passage shows that people of all status were drawn to Jesus for His kind & welcoming spirit, unlike the Religious Leaders who were afraid of becoming corrupted by merely being near a sinner. For just as Jesus was never defiled by physical contact with lepers – He was never defiled by contact with sinners. Jesus was part of the table fellowship… teaching & transforming searching hearts… but never partaking of the sin.

Jesus was speaking to the chief priests and elders about John the Baptist and their rejection of him and his message of repentance. He pointed out the tax collectors, publicans, and prostitutes that had repented of their sins and returned to God in response to John’s preaching and were now entering into the Kingdom of Heaven. Whereas the religious leaders, who professed devotion to God’s Will, refused to heed John’s words concerning the coming Messiah and consequently would never enter in.